The invention relates to a method for the removal of lint, generated during the drying process in a domestic appliance, especially a tumble dryer, for laundry care, from a heat exchanger, wherein a rinsing fluid is run through the heat exchanger for cleaning.
The invention also relates to a domestic appliance for laundry care, comprising a heat exchanger, a process air blower for driving an air flow through the heat exchanger, a collection vessel for a rinsing liquid for removal of the lint generated during the drying process from the heat exchanger, whereby in a cleaning phase the rinsing liquid is conveyed through the heat exchanger, as well as a control device for controlling the cleaning.
A method as well as a domestic appliance of this type are known from DE 37 38 031 C2.
In addition tumble dryers are known which feature a compressor heat pump for alternate heating up and cooling down of a circulating flow of process air. In addition to the normal lint filter, these devices have additional filter systems in order to avoid lint collecting on the respective coolant heat exchanger. To create a good heat transfer from the working medium or coolant circulating in the heat pump to the process air flow which brings about the actual drying process, such heat exchangers are structured with relatively fine elements with a great plurality of fins and are therefore more susceptible than heat exchangers in normal tumble dryers without heat pumps to contamination by lint. The corresponding filter systems consist of a number of mesh filters, filter screens or similar connected one after the other for removal of the fine lint from the process air passing through the normal lint filter. These are intended to keep the heat exchangers permanently installed in the domestic appliance free from fine lint, in order to achieve a good heat transfer from the coolant to the process air flow in this way. Since the filter systems are installed in the area of the base of the device however, maintaining them involves a very tedious process. In addition the cleaning cycles are relatively short and cleaning is very complicated per se.